![]() According to Carroll, his character was not based on any real child, but was entirely fictional. Others argue that Carroll considered his protagonist and Liddell to be separate. Some critics identify the character as Liddell, or write that she inspired the character. ![]() The degree to which the character of Alice can be identified as Alice Liddell is controversial. According to Donald Rackin, "In spite of her class- and time-bound prejudices, her frightened fretting and childish, abject tears, her priggishness and self-assured ignorance, her sometimes blatant hypocrisy, her general powerlessness and confusion, and her rather cowardly readiness to abandon her struggles at the ends of the two adventures- many readers still look up to Alice as a mythic embodiment of control, perseverance, bravery, and mature good sense." Others see less positive traits in Alice, writing that she frequently shows unkindness in her conversations with the animals in Wonderland, takes violent action against the character Bill the Lizard by kicking him into the air, and reflects her social upbringing in her lack of sensitivity and impolite replies. When writing on her personality in "Alice on the Stage" (April 1887), Carroll described her as "loving and gentle", "courteous to all", "trustful", and "wildly curious, and with the eager enjoyment of Life that comes only in the happy hours of childhood, when all is new and fair, and when Sin and Sorrow are but names – empty words signifying nothing!" Commentators characterise her as "innocent", "imaginative", introspective, generally well-mannered, critical of authority figures, and clever. Alice has been variously characterised as belonging to the upper class, middle class, or part of the bourgeoisie. Additionally, she had gone to a day school at some point in her backstory. At home, she has a significantly older sister, a brother, a pet cat named Dinah, an elderly nurse, and a governess, who teaches her lessons starting at nine in the morning. Details of her fictional life can be discovered from the text of the two books. In the text of the two Alice books, author Lewis Carroll often did not remark on the physical appearance of his protagonist. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), which takes place on 4 May, the character is widely assumed to be seven years old Alice gives her age as seven and a half in the sequel, which takes place on 4 November. Main articles: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass John Tenniel's illustration of Alice and the pig from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)Īlice is a fictional child living during the middle of the Victorian era. Her continuing appeal has been ascribed to her ability to be continuously re-imagined. She has been interpreted through various critical approaches, and has appeared and been re-imagined in numerous adaptations, including Walt Disney's film (1951). She has been described as a departure from the usual nineteenth-century child protagonist, and the success of the two Alice books inspired numerous sequels, parodies, and imitations, with protagonists similar to Alice in temperament. Her appearance changed from Alice's Adventures Under Ground, the first draft of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, to political cartoonist John Tenniel's illustrations of her in the two Alice books.Īlice has been identified as a cultural icon. Characterized by Carroll as "loving and gentle", "courteous to all", "trustful", and "wildly curious", Alice has been variously seen as clever, well-mannered, and sceptical of authority, although some commentators find more negative aspects of her personality. ![]() Although she shares her given name with Alice Liddell, scholars disagree about the extent to which she was based upon Liddell. The character originated in stories told by Carroll to entertain the Liddell sisters while rowing on the Isis with his friend Robinson Duckworth, and on subsequent rowing trips. A child in the mid- Victorian era, Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland in the sequel, she steps through a mirror into an alternative world. Alice in one of John Tenniel's illustrations for Alice's Adventures in WonderlandĪlice is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Lewis Carroll's children's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
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